1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording and reproducing apparatus that records image signals on an optical disk and that reproduces the image signals recorded on the optical disk, and more particularly, to a recording and reproducing apparatus capable of displaying representative images such as thumbnail images that represent contents of the image signals recorded on the optical disk as moving pictures.
In DVD players that have widely been used in recent years, the MPEG2 standard has been used to compress image signals. The image signal compressing method according to the MPEG standard is adopted to a Video Recording format (VR format), which is a standard of a DVD recorder capable of converting analog image signals into digital signals and of recording the digital signal on an optical disk. As such, in the VR format enabling image signals to be recorded as digital signals, the recorded image signals are managed in two kinds of formats, that is, an original program chain format and a user-defined program chain (play list). In addition, it is possible to designate a still picture representing a program, which is the unit of the image signals in the original program chain, as a representative picture. Therefore, when thumbnail images indicating the contents of a program are displayed, the still picture designated as the representative picture is displayed (first related art).
Meanwhile, as a technique of expanding the VR format, the following related art has been proposed (second related art) That is, according to this technique, only in a driver (information recording/reproducing apparatus) manufactured by a specific maker, a peculiar function other than the function prescribed by the above-mentioned standard is exhibited, and specific information 2002 that can be used by only the specific maker can be recorded in a recording area when information on the peculiar function is recorded on an information recording medium (optical disk 1001). The specific information 2002 that can be used by only the specific maker is recorded on an area of the information recording medium (the optical disk 1001) different from an area where common information 2001 according to the standard is recorded. Information related to the contents of image information, still picture information, voice information, etc., included in the information that can be reproduced only by the driver manufactured by the specific maker is defined by specific object information 2008 that can be used by a specific maker. Information required for managing and controlling the specific object information (specific content information) 2008 that can be used only by the specific maker is defined by management and control information 2006 that can be used only by a specific maker (for example, see JP-A-2002-140865 (paragraph 0193 and FIG. 12)).
Further, the following technique has been proposed (third related art). That is, according to this technique, in order to provide a data structure (format structure) in which image information, still picture information, and/or voice information can be recorded on the same information recording medium by mixture and in which an arbitrary area of each of the image information, the still picture information, and the voice information can be randomly reproduced, similar to image information in the existing RTR standard, cell Nos. 2, 3, and 6 are defined by designating a reproducing range from a starting position to an ending position of each of audio VOB (AOB) Nos. A to C. In addition, the voice information (the audio VOB Nos. A to C) and a cell No. 1 designating a reproduction range from a starting position to an ending position of the image information (a movie VOB 31) or a cell No. 4 designating a reproduction range from a starting position to an ending position of the still picture information (a still picture VOB 21) are treated exactly as the same string (for example, see JP-A-2002-157861 (paragraphs 0004 and 0022)).
Furthermore, the following technique has been disclosed (fourth related art). That is, according to this technique, a moving picture, an audio, and a still picture are respectively treated in a user-defined program unit, and it is possible to integrally reproduce the moving picture, the audio, and the still picture by displaying the reproduction order of the user-defined programs on the play list (for example, see JP-A-2003-264793 (paragraph 0074 and FIG. 5)).